Tips for parents/families

Residence Life professional and paraprofessional staff are educators aiming to assist your student to grow into an independent and responsible adult. We hope to partner with parents and families to guide and encourage students to self-advocate, communicate and problem solve. College is a time for learning in and out of the classroom.

Be a part of the learning process

You may be the first person your student calls when feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or upset. Listen to everything that is going on in their lives if they are willing to share. Give lots of encouragement and support while recognizing that challenging situations will and should appear. Difficult situations provide the opportunity for your student to develop into an independent critical thinker. Prior to college, you have been their problem solver but resist the temptation to take over the situation for them. Advise and guide them in tough times to help them grow into mature individuals.

Guide your student to connect with staff who can help

If your student is having a problem, encourage them to talk with a Residence Life staff member in their residential area (ie. Resident Advisor (RA), Head Resident, Assistant Director). Pointing them in the right direction will be much more helpful than picking up the phone and trying to solve the problem for them. Provide support and encouragement to them while reminding them of all the skills they possess as they work on solving the problem.

Encourage communication with their roommate(s)

Adjusting to sharing a living space takes time, practice, and compromise. Even if your student requested their roommate, there is always an adjustment from being friends to living together. When they call you to share their roommate woes, be the sympathetic ear. Let them vent about everything that is bothering them. They will probably feel better just getting it all out. Acknowledge that living with someone can be difficult. The best next step is to ask “Did you talk to your roommate about this?”. Oftentimes, the roommate is unaware that what they are doing (or not doing) is bothering the student. If your student has already spoken to their roommate and the problem persists, encourage them to let their RA know about the issue. The RA is trained as a conflict mediator and can strategize with your student on ways to resolve the issues.

Consult with us

If your student has already spoken with their roommate, RA, etc, but the issue persists and further guidance is needed, we can partner with families to strategize support. Contact the main office via phone (610-330-5335) or reslife@lafayette.edu for guidance and general information. From there, we will pass on your information to the appropriate professional staff member. Please refrain from emailing multiple persons and offices as it makes it more difficult to efficiently prepare the appropriate response. Resident Advisors are only to be contacted by students.

Before (or after) you call, please let your student know you are contacting us. Our options become extremely limited if you ask that your student not be told about the call. Another option is to encourage your student to make an appointment and you can be included via phone/virtual meeting for a group discussion. We want the student to be involved in resolving their issues which is a necessary life skill.

Quick Guide to Housing Procedures

Reporting maintenance issues

Non-emergency repairs should be reported to your students’ RA/CA who will submit a work order to Facilities Operations.

Emergency requests (e.g. no heat, flooding, loss of power, security issue) should be reported immediately as follows:

Weekdays 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., call Facilities Operations at 610-330-5373.
After 4:30 p.m. and on the weekends, call Public Safety at 610-330-5330.

Planning for move in and move out

The residence hall operational timeline is available on the office website. It is set in accordance with the Academic Calendar which is approved several years in advance. We kindly ask that families strictly adhere to these schedules to optimize housing operations. Detailed information is sent directly to students via email in advance of semester opening and closing. When planning for drop off and pick up, ask your student to share with you the information provided in those communications.

Selecting the right meal plan

Students are initially assigned the minimum qualifying meal plan for their class year and room assignment for the fall semester. Once posted, plans can be increased until the end of the second week of the semester within MyHousing. This allows the student to get an idea of their meal schedules and needs before they are locked into a plan. Plans can not be decreased below the minimum required. Full descriptions and fees for the Meal Plans can be found on the Finance & Administration website.

Room assignments

We are fortunate to have numerous housing options available to students therefore, students have multiple processes in which they can participate. Learning about all the options available alongside your student and talking them through can be helpful in reducing the stress of housing selection. Topics to consider include number of roommates, room style, cost, and location. Information about the processes and timelines can be found on the office website. Students will also receive direct emails in advance of the various processes with additional information. Drop In Hours are hosted in the office in advance of each process/event so please encourage your student to attend if they have any questions.

All processes are seniority based so upper-level students will have more options to choose from than underclass students. Within each class, the lottery times are assigned randomly. There are many variables which may result in your student not getting their first or even second choice of housing. You can help your student by reminding them that the people they live with are the most important part of room selection.